


Keep the Chain Going

by Flick (raynon)



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25360873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raynon/pseuds/Flick
Summary: The Girl finds a rare commodity, and she gets Jet to tell her a story.
Relationships: Jet Star & Motorbaby | Grace (Danger Days), Jet Star/Kobra Kid (Implied)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Keep the Chain Going

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by this heart-melting [video,](https://accras.tumblr.com/post/150696599899/this-video-of-this-adorable-little-girl) also the girl deserves space buns

The Fab Four were idly scouring through what Tommy Chow Mein had dug up recently as the Girl just sort of followed each one of them around the ground floor of the old motel. She loved being allowed to go on trips with them. She loved seeing more of the desert, the rush of wind on her face as the Trans Am roared down Route Guano. She loved being asked her opinion on plans and what was important enough to bring back to the diner. She loved feeling like a Killjoy. So while the others picked up and inspected different gadgets or supplies, she would copy them and pretend to know what she was looking at.

There was something that caught her eye specifically, though. Perhaps it was because she took pride in the fact that she could reach things from the top shelf now, or maybe she just wanted to get a better look at the mysterious contents of this particular glass jar. Nevertheless, she used both hands to gently ease the jar down before looking around for whoever was closest.

“Kobra!”

“Yeah, tiger?” Kobra turned his head with a smile.

She held up the jar to him, still somewhat mesmerized by the way seemingly clear fluid transitioned into mysterious white stuff at the bottom. “What’s this?”

The jar had no label on it. Kobra took it for himself and opened it without second thought, and sniffed the rim. Though he’d kept his sunglasses on, the Girl could tell his eyes widened with curiosity in the way his brow raised. “Aw, throwback! Is this...?” He dipped the tip of his index finger against the surface of the liquid and stuck it in his mouth.

“That’s on your tab, Kid,” Tommy barked.

Party rolled his eyes. “What’d you do now?” he asked as he smacked the back of his brother’s head.

Kobra nudged him back with his foot. “Shut up. Dude, this is coconut oil. Pure, un-irradiated, clean stuff right here.”

Jet Star immediately perked up. “Seriously?” His hand was already scrounging for whatever carbons were in his pocket to slap on the counter. “It’s on me.”

“Wait, wait. Hold up.” Party raised a hand. “You sure, Jets? I thought you were determined to scrounge up some butane--”

“Yeah, well, that has a lot more uses.” Jet pointed to the jar Kobra was re-closing.

Fun Ghoul snorted from the corner of the store. “Yeah, like helping things get in tight places, hm?”

“Get scorched.” Jet rolled his eyes.

“This shit keeps your skin and hair from drying out, plus, we can eat it. Could last us months if we’re smart,” Kobra thought aloud.

The Girl beamed. She still had no idea what coconut oil was, exactly, but she made Jet and Kobra happy. And with Party’s reluctant sigh of compliance, she hugged his waist. “Thank you!”

There was something about Jet that seemed brighter around him. After everyone picked what they needed out and haggled with Tommy, they all crowded back into the Am. The Girl got to hold her jar as she was sandwiched between Jet and Kobra in the back, and Jet rested a flat hand on top of her helmet. “Hey, wanna hang out for a bit when we get back?” he asked.

“Only if you promise to tell me a story,” the Girl bargained, flashing a cheeky smile.

Jet slouched and feigned contemplation. “Man, you drive a hard deal. I  _ guess _ I have a couple stories up my sleeve for ya.” He was quick to counter her with a promising smile as they took off down the highway.

Party didn’t punch it at first since there was no immediate threat, though he did get faster once Ghoul cranked up Mad Gear and Missile Kid out of instinct.

The Girl raised her fists up once the windows were rolled down, screaming along only an eighth of the words, since the rest she could never actually make out. The rest of them were the same, though, the words weren’t as important as the aggressive energy in the end.

When they pulled up to the diner, she tucked the jar under one arm and crawled out of the car. Planting her feet on the ground, she looked back down the road until Poison called for her.

The group settled in the main area when they stepped inside. Poison took a clipboard off a nearby wall that listed their inventory, because if he didn’t do it now, nobody was going to remember. Ghoul sat beside him at the counter with the copy of  _ Shiny _ that he smuggled out, and Kobra sat on the opposite side of the table Jet occupied after he’d returned from searching the back room. Everyone seemed pretty curious what was so heavily on his mind while trying to ask any prying questions.

“C’mon, come sit with me,” Jet told the Girl, holding out a hand. On the table was a wide-toothed comb, stained red from Party’s previous usage. “Can I see your jar?”

The Girl set the jar down on the table as well and sat curiously beside Jet. She allowed herself to be positioned so that her back was facing him, though she raised a brow. “Whatcha doin’?”

Jet removed her helmet, along with his gloves to set them down on the table. “I wanna tell you a little about when I was your age.”

Everyone’s ears perked.

The Girl did her best not to bounce in excitement when she felt Jet’s fingers start to run experimentally through her hair. The desert dried it out pretty badly, though wearing that helmet as often as she did probably saved it significantly.

“All I really had was my mom, and she was pretty fierce. She probably woulda made a great Killjoy. She loved hair. She loved  _ my  _ hair, especially when BLi didn’t.” Jet picked the comb up and gently sorted through the more knotted parts of the Girl’s hair. ”‘Cause, you know how they like it when people look all proper, and they thought people like us looked too wily and--" He paused to try and think of the right word, though most that came to him were too abrasive for his taste. "Well, doesn't matter what they thought. They were wrong. But she was a constant and strong reminder that there was nothing wrong with us. She made hair a statement of rebellion, in her own way.” He pulled off a few bracelets made of colored yarn off his wrists to use as temporary hair ties.

The Girl’s smile twitched, only because she wished she could remember her own mom. She looked around at the others to try and keep herself from imagining too much, and seeing everyone else’s supportive expressions put her back at ease. Her head jerked back a little on a particularly big knot, making her tense.

“Sorry,” Jet murmured. “You okay?”

She nodded with a hum.

Jet unscrewed the lid from the jar and dipped his fingers in--  _ damn the summer heat for melting it _ \--and carefully combed the oil against her scalp.

The Girl immediately relaxed more, humming. “Your mom did this to you?”

“Yeah. And her mom did the same for her, and so on. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as her, but I figured she’d want me to keep the chain goin’.” His fingers took two smaller sections right above her temple and twisted them back into a two-strand braid, adding hair as he went. Every so often, he’d take the comb again and gently wrestle with dead ends. A tiny tumbleweed was set on the table from inevitable breakage.

The Girl folded her legs up as much as the cracked vinyl seat would allow her, and she idly grabbed at her ankles. “It makes my head feel kinda tingly. But in a good way. It’s like hearing a really good song for the first time.” The longer he played with her, the easier it was for her to zone out a little. If she was in the right position, she could have gone for a nap.

“Wanna turn the radio on?” Kobra offered, breaking her daze.

“Yeah!” Her eyes brightened up and she turned her head to face him, giggling when Jet re-positioned her head back in place.

“I’m tryin’ not to pull too much, Girlie,” Jet reminded her.

“I’m tough. I can take it.” She sat up straighter.

“Right on,” Ghoul called out with a smirk. He flipped a page. “Hey, maybe next time Jet does this for ya, you could just take the grease outta Party’s hair.”

Party smacked the zine out of Ghoul’s hands. “Not like yours is any cleaner.”

The Girl’s giggling increased in volume, but she managed to keep still enough as Jet moved to add a second braid in on the other side. When Kobra turned the radio on, she breathed in deeply. “What else was your mom like, Jet?”

“She, uh...she worked in a film crew. BLi propaganda,” he answered, chewing on his inner lip. “I can’t remember what she did specifically, but she wasn’t happy. Kept us off the streets, though.”

There were questions that she wanted to follow up with, like what happened to her, but the words felt sharp in her mouth. Jet was already opening up this much for her, for everyone, so she didn’t want to push him into anything he wasn’t ready for. On top of that, the yearning started to itch in the pit of her chest again. “Can you remember her face?”

“Yeah.” Jet took the hair ties out to rearrange the remaining sections. “Strong brow, soft nose. She was pretty stocky, so people were kind of afraid to fuck with her. Mostly, I still remember her voice, though. It was a little gruff, because she was a smoker, but firm. She always knew what to say.” He tied off the rest of her hair in two voluminous poofs. “Alright, I think that’ll do it.”

Her hands immediately raised to skim over the work he did, and she was entranced. The twists were bumpy, but she’d never really experienced anything like it. Some residue from the oil left a thin layer over her fingers, but she didn’t care. She hopped off the seat and ran to the bathroom to actually get a good look.

Needless to say, the twists were crooked, the strands uneven in volume in most places. But it had character, it seemed more fitting for a desert rogue to be more uneven, and she grinned as hard as she could at her reflection. “It’s amaaaaaaaaaazing!”

The others’ eyes fell to him, all giving off a face somewhere between astonishment and uncertainty. It just wasn’t often that they talked about growing up, like unlocking a new level in an arcade game. But the Girl seemed to be over the moon, and they would take that at any chance they could get.

“Well, well. Jet Star, man of hidden talents.” Kobra smirked. “What else aren’t you telling us?”

“Show me yours and I’ll show ya mine.” Jet flicked a yarn bracelet at Kobra’s face.

Kobra took the hit, but he caught the bracelet before it fell and slid it around his own wrist with a wink.

“Ugh, cataract-inducing,” Poison groaned as he set the clipboard down on the counter.

Jet chuckled and stood up, taking his gloves and jacket to set down somewhere else. But before he could move into the back room, the Girl had rocketed out of the bathroom and threw herself in his arms.

“Next time, show me how to do it, please?” she mumbled against his shoulder.

He’d stumbled back, but kept her upright for a few seconds before setting her back down. “Yeah, of course.”

Later on, Poison was the first to finish dinner. As the others sat around their own booth, he was curled up by a window with a sketchbook, smiling to himself as he immortalized a few different expressions and angles of the Girl and her hair. He liked that there was more of her face to see, it made her face that much brighter.


End file.
